Blogversation: The impact of facilities at HBCUs

I was surfing the web a few hours ago and going through my usual routine of Googling the names of various area colleges, coaches and athletes to see what new reading material I could find on each. For some odd reason on this particular day, I Googled “HBCU, sports.”

My search churned out quite a few items, but my attention was snagged by an article with the headline “Roles are reversed at some schools.” The article ran in The State, a daily newspaper in Columbia, S.C., and discussed how football coaches at historically black colleges and universities were encouraging more diversity among their teams.

There were a lot of interesting comments from coaches and players. Said South Carolina State coach Buddy Pough: “We actually try to recruit white players. We’d like to have more white players, and we’ve made that effort to diversify ourselves and, ultimately, reflect the population of the state.” Pough coaches at a school with a 3 percent white population.

The article was an excellent read. But what I found to be most interesting about the piece was this statement: “The other lingering perception about HBCU football programs is that their facilities are a cut below other schools, making it difficult to recruit top players, regardless of race.”

When I read that, I immediately thought about Texas Southern and Prairie View A&M, the only two HBCUs in this area. My thoughts raced to the conditions of the two schools’ football and weightroom facilities.

Now, I can’t vouch for Prairie View because I’ve only visited that campus twice, and I’ve never ventured near its athletic complexes. But I can vouch for TSU, which I’ve visited repeatedly over the years and whose football field I’m familiar with.

Durley Field isn’t impressive by any means and can hold up to 7,800 (I think) with extra bleachers. The stadium does have a box, but it’s not suited for the press. Rather, those of us who cover the games have a “press tent” situated behind the west endzone.

But back to the issue of football facilities. The facilities at TSU (as far as I can see) aren’t great, and we know recruits take facilities into consideration when deciding which schools to attend. As mentioned above, there is that perception that the football facilities at HBCUs are inferior to other schools. This undoubtedly makes it tougher to recruit top-tier prospects.

In addition, I also know that the local media (print, radio and television) probably isn’t too thrilled with the idea of covering a game from a “press tent.” I’m not too thrilled with it either, but it won’t stop me from covering TSU football games. I can’t say the same for my colleagues.

That’s the way I see it, but I wonder what you guys think about the facilities at TSU and Prairie View.

Therefore, here’s the question for today’s blogversation: How much impact do the football facilities at HBCUs have on recruiting and media coverage?